Way back in the mid to late 90’s, a guy called Tom Davies used to host a talk-in show on TFM, imaginatively titled “Tom’s Talk-In”. After ad breaks, etc, he used to play bits of music, usually announcing the telephone number to ring in and other bits of information like that.

All (or at least most) of these tracks were edited versions of different songs from the 80s and 90s (including my much-loved “Downtown” by One 2 Many). I knew a few of the tracks, but not all of them. There was one particular one I loved, and didn’t know the name of. At some point in 1998, I got Chris to phone in and ask its name…

“You can’t buy it”, was Tom’s 4-word response.
“What’s it called, then”? Chris asked.
“It doesn’t have one”.

I didn’t quite believe this, and still don’t obviously. A few people had rang up in the past, and asked what a certain piece of music is. Sometimes he’d help, sometimes he’d say it didn’t have a name, despite the fact I knew what it was.

At some point after this, Tom crashed his car into a field after swerving to avoid a fox, and the minidisc containing the show’s music was lost or destroyed. Some of the original music returned, but this particular track didn’t, and I never heard it again.

Luckily I found an old C90 with this particular tune on, and I was able to ask a few people whether they knew it. Unfortunately, nobody did. To this day, I still call it “The Unknown Song”.

And now, dear readers, this is where it comes down to losing £1. I know of one website on the internet that allows you to “phone in” the song you’re listening to, and they’ll identify it for you, out of their database of “millions”. If they don’t recognise it, they don’t charge. Ooooooo. I was bored, my mobile was in my hand, and I’d loaded this particular sound file. So, I signed up, called the number they gave me and pressed play.

The call disconnected, and I sat patiently, waiting for a text message. Within seconds, the phone beeped, and I grasped it, hoping for a result.

“We couldn’t work out what that was. Make sure the music is loud, don’t sing and don’t hang up”.

Bum. Well, at least they didn’t charge me.

I gave it 4 more goes, each with the same result, despite trying it at different volumes. Bollocks.

On the 5th attempt, I got this…

RESULT! Er, well, it was *a* result. Not the correct one. This particular track turned out to be some foreign track, and not even close to what I wanted. Arse. 50p down, then.

I gave it one more go. This time, the result was even worse than the last one. It thought it was “Winter Wonderland”, by The Kenny Lee Sound. Somehow, I have a sneaking suspicion that’s totally and utterly incorrect in every way, shape and form. Now, I suppose it’s my own fault, I’m not exactly giving it a lot to go on, 17 seconds of audio, taped off the radio, on a cassette, dating from the 80s with audible tape wear, and possible edits all over the place. Therefore, I’m not blaming the site - I’ll probably use it for something else at some point, and be absolutely delighted with it.

The MP3 I played it is located here if you want to have a go at IDing it yourself, or if you’re just curious to what I’m whittering on about. If you do find out what it is, for god’s sake, leave a comment or something.

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